Wismut uranium miners cohort study

Wet drilling

The Wismut cohort is the largest cohort of miners occupationally exposed to radon. The cohort comprises 59,000 male employees who were working in uranium ore mining in the former German Democratic Republic between 1946 and 1990. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is conducting this study to scientifically investigate the health effects of mining-related activities. The large scale, the long observation period and the wealth of information about different risk factors make this study unique. The cohort allows for the investigation of various research issues and previous results were published in many publications. On request, the BfS provides data to interested scientists to investigate their own specific research questions.

The Wismut cohort is one of the largest cohort studies of miners occupationally exposed to radon. The cohort comprises almost 59,000 male employees who were working in uranium ore mining in the former German Democratic Republic between 1946 and 1990. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) has been conducting this study since 1993 to scientifically investigate the health effects of mining-related activities. The large scale, the long observation period and the wealth of information about different risk factors make this study unique. The cohort allows for the investigation of various research issues and previous results were published in many publications. On request, the BfS provides data to interested external scientists to investigate their own specific research questions.